Avery's Note: Picking up where I left off a few years ago… Hopefully I can remember which direction I'm heading, haha.
Summary: Butler is an enigma. Butler's past is even more secretive than the man himself. When a young woman shows up claiming to be his illegitimate daughter, his world is turned upside down and inside out. Must he now choose between having the family he always wanted or his young master, Artemis?
The story thus so far: As the days pass, Avery slowly begins to lose the façade of the sweet young woman as she becomes more impatient. With Foaly's aid, Holly uncovers the story behind Avery. Holly and Avery unofficial declare war upon each other as each fight for her own deeply personal reasons.
Just Tell Me You Love Me
Chapter 8: D5: When Push Comes to Shove
Avery tapped her fingers on the desktop, absentmindedly playing along to the classical tune in her mind. Today was the fifth day of her stay at the Fowl Manor and as far as she was aware, she wasn't very close to succeeding her mission. She had indeed bonded with her father, along with Artemis and his family. However, accurately cynical Holly Short was a roadblock. Avery was not sure how much influence this character had in terms of spreading the mistrust to Artemis.
The entire operation was very delicate. Avery knew that if she just told about a slight betrayal on Butler's part, Artemis would be so wounded he wouldn't miss the presence of his man servant. At the same time, however, Avery wanted her father's love; hurting Artemis that deeply had the potential of fostering Butler's resentment against her.
The young woman sighed heavily and allowed herself to slouch in the chair. It would have been so much easier if she could have done the entire operation guns blazing. Anonymously assassinate the opposition and her father, with no where left to go, would come home. A slight grin crossed her features as Avery imagined what the scene would look like if she sent Alex to do some dirty work.
"Maybe using a guns blazing tactic isn't such a bad idea…" she murmured to herself. "Who should I send in the commando squad?"
Meanwhile, in a neighboring room, Holly sat with her legs crossed on the bed. Although her eyes were closed, Holly was not resting. Holly knew it would only be two more days until Avery was physically gone, but it would take months to erase her from everyone's memory. Artemis had a strong, obvious attraction to the Lefluer. And Butler was never going to forget the only time he crossed paths with his daughter.
"The best defense is sometimes a strong offense," Foaly interjected, breaking the early morning silence.
"I don't think Butler would appreciate me dispatching of his daughter."
"You thought I was suggesting murder?" Foaly scoffed indignantly. "I was going for making a scene; drive her out of the house because she's too ashamed to come back."
Holly did not respond right away, her mind churning with all the incriminating evidence she possess against Avery. "It feels too simplistic."
"Simple is sometimes the best way to go."
"Nothing is simple in this manor, however."
"Like your feelings towards Artemis," Foaly joked.
"Excuse me?" Holly raged across the intercom.
"Calm down. It was joke, but apparently there is a nugget of truth because of your reaction." There was a pause. "Are you jealous?"
"No, I am not jealous," Holly grumbled. "Even though I don't want to admit it, Artemis has helped prevent things from turning for the worse. This is a chance for me to return the favor."
"So you're going to protect him from a girl he doesn't want to be protected from?"
"That's because he doesn't know how dangerous she is."
It was a few hours following lunch that Holly decided to confront Avery. The young woman was having tea by herself on the patio on the far side of the garden. By the way Avery didn't say much, Holly assumed that the young woman was receiving updates about various projects from her subordinate Alex.
After a few minutes, Avery played with her fan, turning it around and around in her hands. She fingered the intricate lace pattern along the edge and traced her fingers along the flowers painted on the fan itself. Apparently Alex didn't anything interesting to say, either.
"What are you going to do, Janelle?" Holly deactivated her cloaking device seconds after Avery ended the conversation and took a sip of her now lukewarm tea. Holly didn't move to stand within Avery's line of sight and Avery didn't turn to look at the elf.
Avery did not react quite as how Holly expected. Had Avery suspected that Holly knew Avery's secret from the beginning? There was no change of expression, not hint of worry.
"The same as I always do: win."
Holly slowly started circling around the table. "And you don't care how you win."
"In the fashion of Machiavelli, the ends justify the means."
Pausing from fanning herself, Avery snapped it closed and pointed it accusingly at Holly.
"Do you feel threatened by me?" Avery asked Holly with an eerie calm. "You think I'm in this for Artemis?" The young woman then laughed as if the thought was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. Despite the condescension in her words, the laughter still managed to sound like gently tinkling bells. It struck Holly as the ultimate paradox.
Holly had never seen such anger in anyone's eyes before. It was especially shocking coming from a young woman who seemed to be so perfect in every way. Only a few would have guessed her to be harboring such hatred that it turned the heart pure black.
"You can have the boy for all I give a damn! I do not love him and I will never love him." Avery smirked. "All I want is my father, and I will do whatever it takes to get him."
As if on cue, Butler appeared at the edge of the other side of the lawn and waved at his daughter. Avery waved politely back, a wide smile on her face. She beckoned her father to come and join her. Avery then snapped the fan open and continued with her afternoon tea, as if the conversation with Holly had never happened.
Holly spun smartly on her heels and marched off. She knew that there was no other option except to drop the truth on Artemis; she resolved herself to expose all of Avery's secrets and turn Artemis as much as she could against the young woman. If Avery was just planning of crushing the young man's soul, Holly would beat her to the punch and do it more gently.
The opportunity presented itself just a few hours later. Artemis and Avery had retired to their respective rooms to handle some family business. Knocking gently, Holly let herself into Artemis' office and approached Artemis from behind. Holly waited patiently for Artemis to reach a breaking point on whatever it was he was doing.
"We need to talk about Janelle," Holly announced as his typing slowed down.
"Janelle?" Although not particularly common, the name at first did not have any meaning to Artemis.
"Lefluer."
"Yes, of course." Artemis turned in his seat to regard his elf friend with his full attention. "What about Janelle? There has not been much activity in their department for a few weeks."
"It's Avery. Janelle is the dainty young woman in the spare bedroom down the hall."
"I assumed as much. With her mother dead and no other close living relatives, it would only be logical that Avery inherit the title." Artemis considered it for a moment. "Strange isn't it, having the opposition so readily exposed to you?"
"And you are… not upset?" Holly was more confused than ever. "You just said you were nemeses! How are you so calm about all of this?"
"Janelle got the best of me with the nuclear power plant fiasco several years ago. Avery is Butler's daughter; for his sake if for no other reason, I will forgive her."
"And you don't resent her for playing Butler against you?"
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Butler has never betrayed me."
"Would you still believe that against the evidence?" Shacking just slightly from the nerves, Holly handed her helmet to Artemis, were all the information had been relayed. Holly knew that this had the potential to break Artemis' relationship with his man servant, but like Avery, this was the point of no return and she had to win at all costs.
Artemis accepted the helmet from his friend, but did not put it on. "I've already examined the fiasco several times. There is no way Butler could have worked against me."
Holly frowned. "I know it's hard, but you have to reconsider." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Artemis, I care about you. That evil woman is not going to let you win; I want you to be prepared."
"Thank you, Holly," Artemis replied. He offered her helmet back to her. "I think I can take care of myself."
The elf withdrew her hand and scooped up her helmet. As she turned to leave, Holly said, "I'll reroute the information to your database; it will be there if you change your mind."
To be continued…